Big Spring Park in the Fall

This year we have visited Big Spring Park more than any other year we’ve lived here. We like to hang out by the water and share a picnic lunch then explore the park.

I have enjoyed the beautiful effect of the different seasons – from cherry blossoms in spring to the lovely fall colors towards the end of the year.

We always bring bread to feed the birds and fish, and lately Gabe has brought his bike to ride too. Julia is content to play on the big quilt and wave at everyone who passes by :).

Mallard Stables

Gabe was invited to a birthday party at Mallard Stables recently, and the whole family was lucky enough to go along too. We loved it there!

It is such a beautiful location by a nice pond with a pretty water fountain, lots of fall foliage and well-kept stables.

There were plenty of fun things to do for the kids – a playground with tree houses and a place to pet pigs and goats, and an awesome zipline to ride, plus TONS of other fun outdoor and indoor activities – way too many to list!

I didn’t get a great photo of the zipline, but Gabe loved it! He also loved the barrel ride around the pond.

Of course the highlight of the party was the horseback riding!

Desoto State Park and Little River Falls

He sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills…
He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

Psalm 104:10&13

In October we went on a lovely day trip to Desoto State Park and Little River Falls.

Grandma and Papa came too, so we enjoyed spending quality time with them!

We were blessed with the perfect weather and some pretty fall colors.

I almost had a heart attack when Chris and Gabe walked out to the edge of Little River Falls, but nobody fell off a cliff so I was fine ;).

Julia stayed at a safe distance with Papa at Desoto Falls. The river and falls were pretty low, but still fun to see – especially in beautiful weather.

It was a great trip, which I’m sure will be repeated in future years, especially when the kids are old enough to manage some of the great hiking trails there!

Scott’s Apple Orchard

After over 5 years of living in the South, we finally visited an apple orchard! I know that you are probably thinking “What’s the big deal with apple orchards?” Well, having grown up in a rural part of New England, I was used to being around apple orchards, and they were always a huge part of the autumn season for me. As soon as the apple harvest started we would begin our weekly stops at our favorite orchard every Sunday afternoon on the way home from church. Then there were the fall festivals with hay rides to the pumpkin patches, banjo players and folk music concerts, and little country stores filled to the brim with everything you might need to eat or decorate with for fall. But we hadn’t seen a single apple orchard since we moved here until this year. My dad (having missed the orchards after retiring here last fall) did some research and found Scott’s Orchard not too far away so we made a little trip up there.

We enjoyed showing Gabe all the apples and the workers sorting them behind the scenes. He got to choose most of the apples in our sack.

We also tried apple cider slushies – sooo good!

It was a fun trip – thanks Dad!!

Tate Farms 2010

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our recent trip to Tate Farms. We go every year and always have a great time! You can also click on the image below to be taken to a slide show with the larger sized images :).

*Click Here to See the Slide Show of Our Day at Tate Farms*

If you haven’t visited my blog in a while, you might be thinking that I spent hours and hours carefully arranging my photos into a pumpkin shape – NOT SO :). I am loving this cool “Shape Collage” software – I can upload any shape and it will make a shaped collage with my images!

Note to my Scrapbooking Friends:

If you are needing a pumpkin shape or some other fall-themed digital scrapbooking things you should check out my Scrapbook Ideas site – I just added a freebie kit called Fall Fun :).